DD2 has black gunk in her ear

[diannescruffy]

It's not even the yellow waxy stuff it is literally black. I just want to get it out, I know you are not suppose to put cotton buds, has anyone else experienced anything like this?

Regards,
Dianne

[diva det]

yup my DS1 who is 7 has black stuff in his ears all the time- its feral
he has since he was a little kid
its like mud mixed with wax lol- well then again it that is what it probably is!!!
its all good hun
just gross!!

[PumpkinZulu]

maybe you could try ear candling? I'm not sure if it's ok for children but i think it is The black stuff could be old, dried blood, i used to sometimes get it as a kid.

[Alan]

It could be a fungal infection

[Bathsheba]

My first thought was that it was dried blood mixed with wax. Has she complained of pain? Has she had an infection recently? Does her hearing seem normal? Maybe dissolve a little in some water or a clear oil and see what the underlying colour is... if it's blood it might be more apparent... sorry if the idea of doing that grosses you out.

I wouldn't suggest ear candling... there is no evidience that it works and could be dangerous... i was looking into it recently.

If I want to give my boys ears a good clean I often dip a tissue that has been formed into a tip into some warm clear oil... olive oil is good... it doesn't go in very deep at all but manages to clear the folds really well.

Check out Alan's suggestion about it being fungal... have never experienced/seen this myself but he could be onto something.

[diannescruffy]

Thanks everyone, she does have the runs at the moment but that's about it. I'll try the tissue with oil see if that gets some out.

Regards,
Dianne

[Bathsheba]

My mother (a nurse) used to use an eye dropper and pour warm oil into our ears to loosen wax... let it settle then make us lie on a pillow with an old towel until it drained out.... not sure if doing that is safe and/or recommended any more. My GP said warm water is just as good.

[deletedit]

Bathsheba: that sounds tame compared to how doctors clean ears. They get a doodat full of warm water with a squirty mechanism like regular household misters, shove that in there and squirt away madly. Then you are left with a bucket of earwax and a serious case of ultra-dizziness.

My partner gets impacted wax and has this done quite often.

[Alan]

Warm olive oil is fine to put in ears. When I worked in hospital emergency dept we used to use it to kill bugs that had crawled into ears.

[Bathsheba]

Thanks for the confirmation Alan My mother has quite a few out-dated notions... she's in her 60's and is still nursing but I find some of her ideas a bit dubious... but you can't argue with her!

Elf: I've heard about that! You'd think that would potentially rupture the ear drum! Glad we don't seem to make much ear wax in our family... my FIL did though and after his treatment he was amazed to hear birds tweeting again! LOL